


#feedraw

by helloshepard



Series: what we owe to each other [4]
Category: Marvel, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Chocolate, Crack Treated Seriously, Dog Biology, Dubious Morality, Eating, Feeding Your Symbiote: A Comprehensive Guide, Multi, Tumblr Prompt, Visits to Costco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 05:46:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16402433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helloshepard/pseuds/helloshepard
Summary: Venom needs food. Eddie can't eat tater tots and chocolate forever.





	#feedraw

**Author's Note:**

> Written partially to a response to a tumblr prompt. macgyvertape, NOT written as a comprehensive guide to canine biology & nutritional requirements.  
> (Also, I am not sure when I last went to Costco, but it was probably when I was like, ten.)

Venom was hungry. Venom was _always_ hungry.

Eddie crammed another handful of tater tots into his mouth.

“Bud.” Eddie said. “This is getting ridiculous.”

****How so?** **

“We’re eating too much.” Eddie said. “Way too much.”

****But I’m** ** ****_hungry._ ** **

“I know.” Venom slid out of Eddie’s shoulder and nuzzled him, warm black goo rubbing not unpleasantly against Eddie’s collar and neck. Eddie sighed and leaned back, letting Venom curl around his shoulders like some sort of bloodthirsty fur coat. Venom extended a tendril to switch on the television. “Have you ever eaten anything you __enjoyed__  other than people? Before you found tater tots and chocolate?”

 ** **Trizky rations were…acceptable.**** Venom considered, pushing a memory over to Eddie’s side of their mind, of something warm and spicy and rich. And also like nothing Eddie had ever tasted before. ** **You are the only host that has asked me what I wanted to eat. That**** ** ** _cared._ ****

Eddie felt a blush coloring his ears.

“Love you too, bud.” Venom coiled tighter, just a hairsbreadth away from being uncomfortable. Eddie decided to take it as a compliment that Venom felt comfortable enough to say such a thing freely. They did share a body and a consciousness, but Venom was normally reluctant to offer anything about his past without direct prompting.

“What else do you want to eat?”

Venom purred contentedly in Eddie’s chest as he considered the question, and snuck a tendril out to swipe the last tater tot.

****Phenethylamine.** **

“Mmm. Besides your weird brain feelings.”

Venom huffed, wrapping himself around Eddie’s wrist to better control the remote.

 ** **Nothing wrong with phenethylamine.**** Venom said. ****How would I know what to eat if I’ve never eaten it before?****

“Good point.” Eddie adjusted his position, bringing up his legs to rest on the couch. “You obviously don’t eat like a person.”

****Some humans eat other people.** **

Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Okay. You need meat. Protein.”

****I suppose.** **

Eddie pulled out his phone. “And humans have…uh. Blood. And bones. And organs.”

 ** **Food.**** Venom flipped through the channels aimlessly. ****It is all food to me.****

“Oh boy.” Eddie pulled out his phone. Costco was a bit of a drive away, and they would probably need to take a lyft to haul all the groceries home, but the thought of eating _anything_ besides sugar and potatoes was getting more and more appealing by the minute.

* * *

 

 ** ** _Eddie,_ **** Venom purred, coiling back around Eddie’s shoulders. The ride over had been tense; their first ride in a stranger’s car, and Eddie now knew Venom _hated_ not being in control when driving. He’d spent the whole time spread thin under Eddie’s clothes, one wrong turn away from yanking the steering wheel out of the poor driver’s hands. ****This is**** ** ** _wonderful._ ****

“Glad you like it.” Eddie mumbled.

 ** **We should work here.**** Venom hesitated as Eddie selected a shopping cart. ****We use this device to…?****

“Gonna put the food in here.” Eddie said, directing the cart to the back. Anne had been in charge of the shopping when they were together, but Eddie was reasonably sure the meat was in the back of the warehouse.

Abruptly, Venom seized control of their body and took a hard left. The cart skidded in protest, drawing the attention of more than a few concerned families.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

 ** **Food.**** Venom insisted.

“Come on.” Eddie whispered. “This isn’t…”

Venom reached out and grabbed a box of M&Ms. And a box of Hershey’s. Then a box of generic Costco-brand chocolates, placing all three in the cart with a level of care the symbiote normally reserved for Eddie himself.

 ** **Food.**** Venom repeated. ****It’s cheaper.****

“Yeah, and it’d be cheaper if we just robbed the place, but it’s--”

****Can we? Rob Costco?** **

“No!” Eddie grimaced, wrestling control from the symbiote and directed the down the aisles once again. “We are not robbing Costco.”

 ** **Why not?**** Venom was annoyed, slipping back to the nape of Eddie’s neck.

“Because.” Eddie looked up. He’d forgotten about the signs in these kinds of stores, but he had been right. The deli section was in the back. “It’s illegal.”

 ** **So’s eating people.**** Venom was just under Eddie’s skin, amusing himself by brushing past the nerves in his neck, making his hair stand on end. Eddie swatted at the symbiote, and succeeded in slapping himself on the neck.

“Bad people!” Now on guard, Eddie successfully directed the cart away from the frozen foods before Venom could notice the massive bags of tater tots. “Costco isn’t bad.”

 ** **So.**** Venom abruptly changed tone from whiny to reasonable, the way he did when trying to convince Eddie that it was perfectly alright to work from home, Venom would just quietly watch the _Law and Order_ marathon on TNT and not bother Eddie at all, not even for food. ****You would rather us eat people than rob this store.****

“Uh.”

Eddie couldn’t see it, but he _felt_ Venom’s smirk. Stupid parasite.

“People that are bad. Really bad.” Eddie reasoned, well aware of how stupid it all sounded. “If we rob Costco, people that are __not__ bad will be hurt.”

He could feel Venom considering the answer, digging through the evidence Eddie’s mind had unconsciously provided. Management cutting hours, docking pay, the articles Eddie himself had written on the topic.

 ** **I see.**** Venom said. ****We will stick with murder.****

“When you put it like that,” Eddie sighed, relieved as a burst of cool air signaled their entrance into the correct section of the store. “It sounds awful.”

 ** **It wouldn’t be murder,**** Venom sounded all reasonable again. ****Manslaughter. Under duress. McCoy would offer us a deal.****

“I’m canceling cable.” it was half a joke, half not. The last thing he needed was Venom trying his hand at being a lawyer.

****Eddie! No!** **

Eddie smirked. He approached the clerk, a younger man with tired eyes and a stained smock.

“How can I help you?”

“Hi.” Eddie said, realizing a moment too late that despite his brilliant idea to bring them here to get animal carcasses in bulk, buying animal carcasses in bulk __might__ lead to a few questions--especially if anyone recognized him. “I have a…uh. Uh. _Um.”_

“Dog?”

“Yeah!”

****Eddie!** **

“Sorry.” the clerk said, looking bored. “We have meat, but not the organs and bones you need for the raw diet.”

“Raw diet?”

****Eddie. I am not a dog!** **

“Yes?” The clerk said. “Unless you were planning to feed your dog Wagyu burger and Angus steak. I mean, I’m not judging, but people tell me that’s not all you need to feed them.”

****I want steak, Eddie.** **

“You hate steak.”

“Sorry?”

“Sorry!” Eddie stepped back, as if he could place some distance between the the symbiote in his mind. “How much is the burger?”

“$130 for six pounds.”

“Yeesh.” Eddie rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore Venom practically salivating in his mouth. “Thanks anyway. Do you know where I could get that stuff?”

“Yeah, sure.” The clerk pulled out a napkin and scribbled an address. “Most local butchers will have what you’re looking for, but I’ve heard good things about this guy.”

“Thanks.” Eddie said.

****Eddie. I want steak.** **

"No you don't." Eddie offered the clerk a weak smile and hurried off.

* * *

 

****Eddie.** **

“Hm.”

Venom took control of Eddie’s hands. Pushed his fingers away from the keyboard, and used his hands to mute the television. It was the evening news, a national story about Tony Stark’s newest guilt-ridden donation to the Red Cross. In addition to sitcoms and courtroom dramas, Venom seemed to enjoy the news, drinking in puff pieces with the same enthusiasm as high-stakes investigative journalism. Eddie wasn’t sure if the symbiote just wanted to learn more about the planet he’d saved, or if it was his way of understanding Eddie’s job (unlikely, but the thought __did__ warm Eddie’s heart), or if Venom was just trying to compile a list for next week’s dinner.

 ** **Can we eat him?**** Venom gestured to the television.

“Too high profile, bud.”

Venom grumbled, snaking across Eddie’s wrists like a petulant snake. ****Better than robbing Costco.****

Eddie rolled his eyes and started typing again. Venom turned his attention from Stark’s press conference to Eddie’s computer screen.

****Why are you asking humans what we need to eat?** **

“Because you don’t know.” Eddie said. “And they can tell me how to prepare it.”

****Why Hawaii? We don’t live there.** **

“They’re probably the only company answering messages this time of night.” Eddie checked his watch. 10 pm here meant the company was probably finishing business for the day, checking their social media one last time before getting dragged into a conversation about what to feed a very, very, large dog. Venom listened in on Eddie’s mental conversion of time zones.

****Why don’t we move there?** **

“Too expensive.” Eddie said.

 _Any allergies?_ Eddie hesitated for a moment before indicating the negative. Venom would be more than capable of handling any unforeseen allergic reaction on Eddie’s part. Right?

 ** **I would never let anything hurt you.**** Hawaii forgotten, Venom coiled at the center of Eddie’s chest, tendrils resting on an invisible scar. ****Never again.****

Eddie poked himself in the stomach, and Venom slipped into Eddie’s hand, a clingy puddle of black goo.

“He said no one’s ever fed a dog brains before.” Venom knew exactly what the man on the other side of the screen had said, but Eddie still liked the semblance of a conversation, even if Venom knew what he was going to say before he said it. “But he confirmed they do need offal.”

****That sounds disgusting.** **

“Organs.”

****The brain is an organ.** **

“I guess.” Eddie closed the tab and powered down his computer. Venom had been amusing himself by tracing Eddie’s fingerprints, bleeding thin lines into the microscopic valleys and dips on his hands.

 ** **But we can still eat the bad people.**** It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah.” Eddie left the laptop on the couch and got up to retrieve the remains of the chocolate from the Costco run earlier that week. “But if we keep eating at this rate, we’ll really have to move.”

****To Hawaii.** **

“No!” Venom tore through the thin plastic packaging and devoured a king size bar of chocolate. “I told you. Too expensive.”

****Do they have Costco?** **

“Probably?” Eddie picked up his wallet and shoved it into his pocket. “If you stop bugging me about Hawaii, I’ll let you drive.”

**_**Fine** **_._ ** _ **

**Author's Note:**

> I will die on the hill of Eddie disliking Tony Stark. Sorry?  
> Hope you enjoyed, comments and feedback are greatly appreciated! I'm @soundwavereporting on tumblr!


End file.
